Knitting machine



Aug. 13, 1957 E. F. CLARK ETAL 2,802,355

KNITTING MACHINE 'Filed Jan. 28, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 muy mw ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent O KNIrrING MACHINE Eugene F. Clark, Damariscotta,Maine, and .lohn R.

Little, Jr., Fall River, Mass., assigner-s to il. F. Goodrich Co., acorporation of New York Application January 2S, 1955, Serial No. 484,727

11 Claims. (Cl. 6in1-35) Th'is invention relates to a warp knittingmachine, particularly a so-called at knitting machine in which a loopformer is held stationary in the space between needles and over whichformer face warps are laid so asto produce loops which appear as pile onthe surface of the fabric.

In' making pile fabric on a machine of the above type, the pile yarn islaid over the former and tied into the fabric on each side of the formerby a knit stitch. The loops thus formed are tightly held about theformer with tlie ground of the fabric held against the under side of theformer. The loops are moved along and off of the former asthe fabric isadvanced forwardly by the action of the fabric take-up mechanismdirecting pull through the ground. There is an undesirable tendency tostretch the loops by the pull of the ground of the fabric as well asplacing an undesirable strain on the said ground. In a fabric in which afiller yarn is laid weft fashion, the spacing between the needle bed andthe former must be suicient so as to provide space for the guide of saidfiller yarn to-travel in laying the ller yarn in back of the needles oracross the warps. This also creates an undesirable` condition in thatthe fabric made is not properly supported, which results in non-uniformlength of stitches and an irregular line of stitches crosswise of thefabric.

An object of the invention is to provide a knitting machine of the abovecharacter so constructed as to overcome the undesirable conditionsheretofore mentioned.

A more specic object of the invention is to provide, in a knittingmachine of the above character, means for engaging and moving the loopsalong the former in a manner to avoid stretching the loop as the sameare formed.

Another object of theinvention is to provide for holding the' previouslyformed fabric against movement during the tightening of a knit stitch.

Withthese and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims;

In I the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a sectional side elevationalview of a fragmental portion ofl a knitting machine embodying ourinvention;

Figure2 is a side:` elevational View partially in section of" tworelated elements of the machine shown in Figi lf;

Figure 3 isf a plan'view of a fragmentary portion of the former bed' orsupport with former elements in position;

Figure 4l is a sectional view on an enlarged scaleof a portion of? themachine shown in Figure l;

Figure 5 is a view similar to that of Figure 4 and showing` aA differentrelation of parts;

Figures 6, 7, and' 8 are views similar to Figure 4 and showing'variousrelative positions of elements in making one course ofA knitting.

Patented Aug. 13, 1957 ICC The knitting machine according to the presentinvention comprises a knitting needle support or bed which is slidablymounted for vertical movement. A loop former is held stationary in thespace between adjacent needles and the leading end thereof extends asubstantial distance beyond the needles. A reed which is actuated intimed relation with the fabric takeaup mechanism engages and moves theloops along the former as the fabric made is advanced forwardly by thefabric takeup mechanism. There is also provided the usual guides for thewarp which are oscillated and laterally moved in the known manner toguide the knit warps to the needles. A set of lower guides lays a groundweft beneath the former while a set of upper guideslays a face weft overthe former. Thel timing of the various elements is such that as theneedles are lowered to draw a new stretch of warpin the hooks thereofand the old loops, previously formed on the needles, are cast oit' theneedles, the bed is moved upwardly to engage and hold the formed fabricagainst the under side of the former elements. This will hold the fabricagainst movement and assure uniform length of stitches extending in astraight line across the fabric at each course of knitting. Upon theforming and tightening of the stitch, the bed is lowered to provideclearance for the now advancing lower weft guides and at the same timeprovide clearance for the forward advance of the fabric by the action ofthe take-up mechanism supple'- mented by the action of the reed actingon the loops as previously described.

Referring to the drawings, particularly Figure l, the needle bed orsupport designated generally 10 is held on Supports 11 and has aplurality of vertical needle grooves 12 which extend inwardly from theinner side of the bed. A usual latch needle 13 is slidably received ineach of the grooves 12 and held therein by means of a dovetail bar 14which is received in a complementary groove 1S which extends lengthwiseof the bed and intersects the plurality of said grooves 12. The needlesare reciprocated in unison by means of an` inverted L-shaped bar 16providing a shoulder 17 which is adapted to engage the upper side of theusual abutment 18 which is formed on the shank of the needle. The bar16extends in a horizontal direction and is arranged to b-e reciprocatedin a vertical direction by mechanism (not shown). Upon adownwardmovernent of the bar 16, the shoulder 17 will engage theabutment 18 and thereby lower the needles from the raised position asshown in broken lines at 13. in Figure 1, to the lowered position asshown in full lines in this Figure l. Ahorizontal bar 19 is attached tothe bar 16 by straps 20 as at 21. The bar 19 is positioned beneath thelower ends of the needles in line therewith and is spaced from oneshoulder 17 a distance slightly greater. than the distance between theabutment 18` and the said lower ends of the needles. The bar 19 moves inunison with bar 16 and in the upward movement of the said bar 16, thebar 19 will engage and raise the needles to the upper position 13. Asseen in Figure l, at the lower position of bar 19, the same is spacedfrom the ends of the needles. At the raised position of the bar 16 theshoulder 17 will likewise be spaced from the lug or abutment 18. Thisprovides for a lag or rest period for the needles at both ends of thereciprocating stroke of the said bars 16 and 19.

The needle bed 10 according to the invention is made in twoparts 22 and23. The part 22 is attached to the supports 11 by means of bolts 24 tobe held stationary, and the part 23 which carries the needles isslidably mounted on the part 22. The part 23 is connected to a cammotion (not shown) by means of a link 25'which ispivotally attached tothe said` part 23* as at 26. The cam motion. (not shown) which may` belof any suitable approved design may be actuated by some rotating elementof the machine, as by way of example, the main drive shaft indicated 27.The relative position of the .needle bed parts 22 and 23 during themanipulation of the warp and weft threads in and about the needles issubstantially as shown in Figure 1.

The warpthreads designated T to be hereinafter referred to as warp,which form the wales of the fabric,

are guided to the needles 13 by thread guide fingers 28, there being aguide finger 28 for each warp thread. These guide lingers are mounted ona guide bar 29 which extends in a horizontal direction at a positionabove the needle bed to position the lower end of fingers 2S near theupper end of the path of the needles. The bar 29 oscillates about apivot 30 and is also mounted for axial movement in a horizontaldirection, whereby the guide lingers 28 may be oscillated toward andfrom the needles .and also moved laterally thereof so as to guide thewarp in and about the needles during the knitting.

In the present instance the machine disclosed is particularly adaptedfor making carpet and like heavy fabric and accordingly an upper and alower set of guides or fingers 31 nd 32 are provided. There is an upperguide finger 31 for each needle 13 and also a lower guide finger 32 foreach needle 13. These guide fingers are reciprocated in the spacebetween needles to carry the weft to the back of the needles and aremoved laterally of the needles to lay the weft across the warp. Theguide fingers 31 are carried on a guide bar 33 which extends laterallyacross the machine in a general horizontal direction. The bar 33 isprovided with a plurality of grooves 34 one for each finger 31 which isreceived therein and secured in position by means of a clamp fastening35.

A guide bar support or bracket 36 has a horizontal bar 37 which extendslaterally across the machine. The bar 37 has a longitudinal recess 33 inwhich is received the guide bar 33 which is secured in said recess byfastening 39. The ends of bar 37 are provided with an arm 40 which isadjustably supported on a rod 41. The arm extends rearwardly from therod 41 and is adjustably secured as at 42 to a strap 43 which is mountedon rod 41 and a second rod 44 which extends parallel to rod 41, both ofwhich rods form part of the guide bar 33 actuating mechanism (notshown). These bars are moved toward and from the needles 13 andlaterally thereof.'

. The guide fingers 32 in the present instance are tubular in crosssection, and these are carried in a horizontally extending guide bar 45,the front end portion of which is provided with a plurality of openings46, there being an opening to receive each guide finger. These lingers32 are frictionally or otherwise secured in said opening and projecttherefrom towards the needles 13. The guide bar 45 is supported andattached to a guide bar support 47 which is of substantially the sarneconstruction as the guide bar support 40, and like elements areindicated With like but prime numerals. The strap 43 is likewiseattached to parallel extending rods 41 and 44 which form part of theguide bar 45 actuating mechanism. These rods are likewise movable towardand from the needles 13 and laterally thereof. The fingers 31 arethreaded i with the face weft F, and the guide fingers 32 are threadedwith the ground weft G.

The face wefts are laid across a loop former 50 so as to produce loopsin the face weft which appear as pile on the surface of the fabric. Whenthe pile is to be a cut pile, the leading end portion of the former isprovided with a knife edge 51 over which the loops are moved andsevered. The former 51B has a longitudinal slot 52 therethrough at theforward end portion thereof, a recess 53 extending inwardly from theupper edge thereof and a recess 54 extending inwardly from the bottomedge thereof. There is a former 50 in each space between needles, andthe formers are supported in stationary position on a support 55 whichis provided with a plurality of grooves 56 (see Figure 3) in which thesaid formers 4 i are received with the recess 54 receiving a bar 57 (seeFigure 1) which extends laterally across the support 55 to intersect thesaid grooves in the support. The formers 5@ are heid in position on thesupport 55 by means of a plate 58 which is positioned to engage theupper edge of the formers and is provided with a lug 59 which extendsinto the recess 53 and is adapted to engage the forward end of therecess. A screw threaded element 60 engages against the rear edge ofplate 5S to move the same forwardly to engage the lug 59 against forwardend of recess 53 so as to move the formers for the rear end of recess 54to engage against the bar 57. A cap screw or the like 61 extends throughthe plate 58 and is screw threaded into the support 55 to assist insecurely holding the formers 59 in position.

The formers 5@ project in the space between the path of the needles withthe leading end of the former a substantial distance beyond the back ofneedles 13. It will be observed that a substantial portion of theformers necessarily projects unsupported a substantial distance beyondthe forward edge of the support 55. It will also be observed that thelower edge of the formers 50 are necessarily spaced from the lowerednormal position of the needle bed 10 a distance to permit the fingers 32to be moved to the back of the needles in laying the weft G across theback of the needles or warp to be bound thereby. The face weft F is laidacross the formers 50 and is bound at each side of a former 50 by thetraverse of the warps T `of adjacent needles. The term traverse of thewarp is herein used to designate that portion or stretch of warp acrosswhich the weft extends and which stretch of warp extends from the lastformed knit stitch to the hook of the needles. The tightening of thistraverse of warp in the knitting draws the face weft int-o a tight loopabout the formers 56. The fabric is advanced by the fabric take-upmechanism and pulls the loops along the former. The tightness of theloops on the formers places an undesirable strain on the fabric and hasa tendency to stretch the loops as well as placing considerable strainon the unsupported projecting portions of the former 50.

According to the present invention a reed-like element 65 (see Figuresl, 2, and 3) is provided which functions to supplement the pull of thefabric on the loops to advance the same along the former. The reed 65`comprises a fiat bar 66 which extends through the slot 52 in the formers50. The ends of the reed bar 66 are connected to a link 67 (see Figures2 and 3), the front end of which has a hook formation 68 which isreceived in an 'opening 69 in the reed bar 66. The link 67 is slidablyreceived in a groove 70 (see Figure 3) which is at a position betweenthe grooves 56.l The other end of link 67 is pivotally connected to asec-ond link 71 (see Figure 1) which is in turn pivoted to a rod 72.There may be a plurality of such linkage 67 and 71 connected atintervals along the reed 65 and rod '72. A lever 73 which is rockableabout a stationary stud 74 is pivotally connected on one side of pivot74 to the rod 72. Upon rocking of the lever 73 in a counter-clockwisedirection as seen in Figure 1, the reed bar 65 will be moved forwardlyin the slots 52.

The rocking of lever 73 may be cam actuated and controlled by means of acam 77 mounted for rotation on drive shaft Z7 (see Figure 1). The cam 77has a suitable cam groove 78 engaged with a cam follower 79 which isfixed to the end of a yoke 30 which is slidably mounted on a bearingblock 81 rotatable about shaft 27. The yoke 80 has an arm 82 which ispivotally attached ytothe lever 73 as at 82. It will be observed thatfor each rotation of shaft 27, the yoke 81) will be reciprocated alongbearing S1 and rock lever 73 which in turn will move reed bar 66forwardly and rearwardly in the slots S2 of the formers 50.

In the operation of the machine at the start of a knitting course, theneedles are at their lowest position. The guides 28 are at their frontposition to lead the warp T from the needles 13 toward the left as seenin Figure 1 to be clear of the lateral path' of the guides 31l and132at: the rear of the hook. portion of t-lie needles; The guides 31`ar1d3`2` are advanced. forwardly Ior towards the left as shown in Figurel and` then moved orjogged across the back of the needles for adistancedepending on the pattern of the fabric but at least two needles and thencome to rest. That is, theiwefts F and G are laid across the-warp T atAthe right thereof as seeniin Figure l. The needles 13 rrow rise to theirupper` position 13'.I The guides 28 now swing toward the right to aposition in frontior hook side of the needles, then laterally across theneedles, and then forwardly to the back of the needles. This'motionplaces a traverse of warp inl the hooks of the needles, thelatches ofwhich had been previously opened. as will hereinafter appear. The groundand face wefts F and G are now` held in the'bight of the traverse of`warp T at the leftcf the needles. The guides 31, 32 move toward therear, and the needles are lowered and draw a loop of thread. Inrtherepeat knitting motion, the guides 31 and'32 are advanced` towardY theleftV to back of the needles and are jogged laterally inthe oppositedirection across the warp T.- The needle rises, and the guides 28,-againmove to lay anew traverse of warp T in the hook of the needles.` DuringVthe upward movement of the needles, the previous traverses of warplooped in the hook of the needles are moved downwardly around the shankAof the needles; thati is, theprevious traverses ofA warp are heldagainst upward movement and the needles pass upwardly through the loops,and theloops passing down the said shank engage andY open the latch ofthe needles. When the needles are moved down, the old4 loops move up theneedle, close the latch on. the new traverse of warp inthe hook oftheneedles` and slip olf or are cast olf the needles andthe needles atthesame time pull a. new stretchof warp or traverse into a` loop throughthe-.old'one andbindingthe ground and-face wefts inthe knit stitches.The face weft F isrbound at each side of ai former 50 by the traverse`of warp of adjacent needles aspreviously described. The stretch ofl faceweft betweenneedles is prevented from being` drawn into the fabric bythe formers. Thus, a loop'in the face weft is made in the space betweenneedles.

Nowreferring` to` Figure 4 for a more complete description of thevarious knitting motions,` it will be apparent that` a length of fabrichas been made and a plurality of face loops are about the former 50. Thebed portion 23 and the observed needle 13 arefat the lower positionthereof; The guide 28 is at its left position behind the needles. 'Iheguides 31 and'32have been moved forwardly to-lay their weft acrossfthe`back of the needles across the right of warp length or traverse ofwarpj` T1 which extends from the last made chain stitch S1 to the hookof the needle 13 in a loop S2 and thence to the guide 28. The guide 31is moved toward the plane of the drawing to lay a stretch F1 of faceweft F across the upper edge of former 50 and across the back of theadjacent needle beyond the former 50 and comes to rest. The stretch ofweft F1 now extends across the traverse T1 of warp from adjacent needlesat each side of the said former 50. During this motion the guide 32 haslikewise been moved laterally beneath the former toward the plane of thedrawing and across the back of the needles beyond former 50 to lay astretch G1 of weft G, the number of needles crossed in the said lateralmovement of weft G depending upon the design of the fabric. The needle13 now rises, and the old loop S2 moves down the shank of the needle 13opening the latch 113 during its downward movement (see Figure 5). Theguide 28 now moves rearwardly to `the front of the needles, thenlaterally in the direction of the observer, across the front of theneedle 13 so as to pass the traverse T1 of warp in the hookof the needle13. The guide 28 now swings towards the left and comes to rest. Theguides 31, 32 are now withdrawn toward the right to the front of theneedlesx(see Figure 6)-, The face-weft portion? F1 and the ground weft:portion G1 are now held in the portion T2 of traverse T1 of warp fromadjacent needles one at each side` of former 50. The needles start tolower (see Figure 6), andV the bedportion 23 rises to engage and clampthe fabric between the upper side of the bed- 23 and the under side ofthe former 50. The needles continue to lower (see'Figure 7) and the oldloop S2 is cast olf and the traverse T1 of warp is drawn through the oldloop S2 into a loop S3 in the hook of the needle 13 and draws a newtraverse` T3 of warp. This completes a needle and guide motion.

The bed portion 23 now is lowered to provide a clearance between theformers 50 and the needle bed for the advance of the fabric by fabrictake-up motion` (not shown). During the advance of the fabric, the lever73 is oscillated to move the reed 65 into engagement withthe loop offace weft (see Figure 8) to push the same along the former and relievethe strainon the fabric andl then returns to initial position. As theface loops are advanced along the former, they in turn come in contactwith the knife edge 51 and are severed thereby into cut pile; Should itbe desired that the pile be left uncut, then the knife edge is omitted.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that during thebinding of the wefts F and G with the warp to produce a fabric, thefabric made is held stationary against rearward movement. This providesfor drawing the new loop of warp through lthe old loop of warp andtightening` the old loop while the same is held on the upper side of thebed 23 whereby to assure of an even line of similar length stitchesacross the fabric at each course. It will also be apparent that the reed65 supplements the advancing action of the pull of the fabric on` theface loops. Thus, the face loops are prevented from being stretched andare moved generally at right angles to the advance of the fabric.

It will be understood` that while the operation of the machine has beengiven with reference to making a particular pile fabric, the variousmotions and order may be changed in accordance with the particularfabric design desired.

We claim.:

l. A warp knitting machineincluding knitting needles supplied withwarps, means for supplying wefts across said warps to be bound by thetraverse of said warps during the knitting, loop forming means overwhich certain of said wefts are laid and held thereby against beingdrawn` into the fabric` during the knitting so as to produce loops whichappear as pile on the surface of said fabric, and. means engaging and`moving said loops along said loop forming means.

2. A Warp knitting machine including knitting needles supplied withwarps, means for supplying face and ground wefts across said warps to bebound by the traverse of said warps during the knitting, loop formingmeans over which the face wefts are laid and held thereby against beingdrawn into the fabric during the knitting so as to produce loops whichappear as pile on the surface of said fabric, and means engaging andmoving said loops along said loop forming means.

3. A warp knitting machine including knitting needles supplied withwarps, means for supplying face and ground wefts across said warps to bebound by the traverse of said warps during the knitting, loop formingmeans over which the face wefts are laid and held thereby against beingdrawn into the fabric during the knitting so as to produce loops whichappear as pile on the surface of said fabric, and a reed for engagingand moving said loops along said loop forming means.

4. A warp knitting machine including knitting needles supplied withwarps, means for supplying face and ground wefts across said warps to bebound by the traverse of said warps during the knitting, a loop formerheld stationary in the space between needles and over which the facewefts are laid and held thereby against being drawn into the fabricduring knitting so as to produce loops which appear as pile on thesurface of said fabric, and means engaging and moving said loops alongsaid loop former.

5. A Warp knitting machine including knitting needles supplied withwarps, means for supplying ground and face wefts across said warps to bebound by the traverse thereof during the knitting so as to produce afabric, loop formers held stationary in the space between needles andover which said face wefts are laid to be held thereby against beingdrawn into said fabric during the knitting so as to produce loops whichappear as pile on the surface of said fabric, and a reed slidablyrelated to said formers for slidable movement along said formers forengaging and moving said loops along said formers.

6. A warp knitting machine including knitting needles supplied withwarps, means for supplying ground and face wefts across said warps to bebound by the traverse of `said warps during the knitting so as toproduce a fabric, loop formers held stationary in the space betweenneedles and over which said face wefts are laid to be held therebyagainst being drawn into said fabric during the knitting so as toproduce loops which appear as pile on the surface of said fabric, saidformers each having a slot therein with the slot in one former alignedwith the slots in the other formers, a flat bar extending through saidslots and slidable therein for movement along said formers for engagingand moving said loops along said formers.

7. A warp knitting machine including knitting needles supplied withwarps, means for supplying ground and face wefts across said warps to bebound by the traverse of said warps during the knitting so as to producea fabric, K

loop formers held stationary in the space between needles and over whichsaid face wefts are laid to be held thereby against being drawn into thefabric during the knitting so as to produce loops which appear as pileon the surface of said fabric, said formers having a knife edge thereon,and means engaging and moving said loops along said formers to engageand be severad by said knife edge into cut pile 8. A warp knittingmachine including knitting needles supplied with warps, a slidablesupport for said needles, means for supplying ground and face weftsacross said warps to be bound by the traverse of said warps during theknitting so as to produce a fabric, loop formers held stationary in thespace between needles and over which said face wefts are laid to be heldthereby against being drawn into the fabric during the knitting so as toproduce loops which appear as pile on the surface of said fabric, saidsupport being normally spaced from said formers,

8 and means for moving said support toward said formers so as to engageand hold the rnade fabric against the formers so as to prevent movementof said fabric during the binding of said warps and wefts together.

9. A warp knitting machine including knitting needles supplied withwarps, means for guiding said warps to said needles so as to producesingle rows of chain stitches, guide means for supplying ground and facewefts across said warps to be bound by said chain stitches during theknitting so as to produce a fabric, loop formers projecting in the spacebetween adjacent needles and over which former said face wefts are laidto be held thereby against being drawn into the said fabric during theknitting so as to produce loops which appear as pile on the surface ofsaid fabric, means adapted to engage and move said loops along saidformers, a slidable support for said needles normally spaced from saidformers, and means for moving said support toward said formers so as toengage and hold the made fabric against the formers so as to preventmovement of said fabric during the binding of said warps and weftstogether.

l0. A warp knitting machine including knitting needles, means forleading binding warps to said needles so as to produce chain stitches,separate means for laying wefts i' across said warps to be bound therebyduring the knitting so as to produce a fabric, means for forming loopsin certain of said wefts which appear as pile on the surface of saidfabric, and means engaging the made fabric for holding the same againstmovement during the binding of said wefts and warps together.

ll. A warp knitting machine including a single set of knitting needles,a sliding support for said needles, means for leading binding warps tosaid needles so as to produce rows of single chain stitches, separatemeans for laying wefts across said warps to be bound thereby during theknitting so as to produce a fabric, loop forme'rs held stationary andprojecting in the space between needles and over which certain of saidwefts are laid to be held thereby against being drawn into the saidfabric during the knitting so as to produce loops which appear as pileon the surface of the fabric, means for engaging and advancing saidloops along said formers, and means for moving said support to engageand hold the made fabric against said formers so as to prevent movementof said fabric during the binding of said warps and wefts together.

Buhlmann Oct. 25, 1892 Rice Nov. 28, 1950

